Grammar Checking

Overview

Genesis Writer includes built-in grammar and spelling checking. It detects grammar errors, spelling mistakes, and style issues as you write, highlighting them directly in the editor with suggested fixes.

Grammar checking is free — it doesn't use any Genesis Tokens. It runs automatically in the background, catching errors so you can focus on writing rather than proofreading.

How It Works

As you write in the Draft Editor, the grammar checker periodically analyzes your text in the background. When it detects an issue, it adds an underline beneath the problematic text — similar to how word processors show spelling errors with a red squiggly line.

The checking happens automatically. You don't need to trigger it or click a button. As you type and pause, the checker reviews your recent text and surfaces any issues it finds.

Types of Issues Detected

The grammar checker catches a wide range of issues:

Not every suggestion is mandatory. Style suggestions in particular are advisory — sometimes breaking a grammar “rule” is the right choice for your prose. Use your judgment.

Reviewing Suggestions

Click on any underlined text to see the grammar checker's suggestion. A small popover appears with:

• The issue — a description of what was detected.
• The suggested fix — the proposed replacement text.
• Accept and Dismiss buttons.

The description helps you understand why the text was flagged, not just what the fix is. This is useful for learning and making informed decisions about whether to accept the suggestion.

Accepting & Dismissing

For each suggestion, you have two options:

• Accept — applies the suggested fix. The underline disappears and your text is updated with the correction.
• Dismiss — ignores the suggestion. The underline disappears, and the checker won't flag that specific instance again (though it may flag the same pattern elsewhere in the draft).

Both actions are instant. There's no undo for accepting a grammar fix, but you can always use Ctrl+Z to undo the text change itself.

Performance

Grammar checking is designed to feel near-instant. Results are cached, so the same text isn't re-analyzed unnecessarily. When you edit text, only the affected section is rechecked — the rest of the draft keeps its existing results.

Checks run in the background as you type, waiting until you pause before analyzing. You'll only notice a slight delay if you paste a very large block of text at once, in which case suggestions may appear gradually.

Grammar Checking vs. Polish

Genesis Writer has two tools for improving prose quality: grammar checking (this feature) and Polish. They're complementary but different:

Use grammar checking as your always-on safety net while writing, and Polish for deliberate refinement passes when you're ready to tighten a section.

Tips

• Don't interrupt your flow. Grammar underlines appear as you write, but you don't have to address them immediately. Keep writing and come back to fix grammar issues during an editing pass.
• Trust your instincts with style suggestions. The grammar checker may flag intentional stylistic choices. If you wrote a fragment on purpose, dismiss the suggestion and move on.
• Check character names. The grammar checker may flag invented character names as spelling errors. Dismiss these — they're expected for fiction writing.
• Use with manuscript analysis. Grammar checking catches surface errors, while manuscript analysis detects deeper prose issues like passive voice and wordiness. Together they give you a comprehensive quality check.
• Grammar checking is per-draft. Like all editor features, grammar checking runs on the currently open Draft node. Switch between drafts and each one is checked independently.